The Master Chief Effect
by BrendanMS
Summary: Just Imagine the Master Chief in the Mass Effect universe, that pretty much explains it.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from either the Halo or Mass Effect universes. Sadly I probably don't even have the claim over Karen because though I created her, she is everything Commander Shepard from the game is.

**A/N:** I'm going to assume that you have some knowledge of both Halo and Mass Effect. If you don't you need to go pick up two of the best Xbox games ever created. By the way, if you want to see an animated version of the beginning of this story, concerning John and Cortana go on youtube. It's almost the exact ending you see if you beat Halo 3 on Legendary.

The Master Chief Effect

John looked around as he came back to consciousness not quite sure what had occurred.

"Thank god, I thought I had lost you too" A disembodied female voiced her concern.

"Yeah. What happened Cortana?" John looked several yards ahead of himself and saw the vast emptiness of space. It wasn't through a port window either like the norm inside of a spaceship would be.

"Not sure. When Halo fired it shook itself to pieces, it did quite a number on The Ark. The portal couldn't sustain itself and we made it through just in time, well some of us made it." John peered out the hole and saw debris left over from Halo and The Ark. The ship had been literally cut in half, the portal having closed as the ship was passing through. Turning around he left and made his way to the cryo lab of the ship, hoping it was on the half of the ship he occupied.

"It's all over, the Prophets, the Covenant, the Flood" Cortana spoke as he pulled the small computer chip that contained the A.I. from his suits helmet.

"It's finished" John replied as he plugged her chip into the interface terminal the cryo room held beside the cryo tubes. "There's enough power on the ship to sustain a cryo pod right?" John queried to Cortana as he examined them.

"Of course. I dropped a beacon but it could be awhile before anyone finds us though" a small, blue tinted hologram of an attractive woman appeared on the terminal as Cortana spoke "years even."

John didn't reply as he climbed into the cryo tube and laid back in it. He ran a quick diagnostic on his suit and it's systems before setting it to power down. The MJOLNIR armor suit quickly ran the diagnostic, showing all green, and began to power down. As it was finishing John said a quick goodbye to Cortana as he prepared for a long nap. "Wake me when you need me."

"See you" Cortana replied as the cover of the tube closed and John was quickly frozen into a state of cryostasis. The small holographic Cortana rubbed her arm nervously as she powered down everything except the power to her terminal and John's cryo tube. "Sleep well."

Minutes after John was frozen and Cortana put herself into as close to a sleep like state an A.I. Can achieve dozens of enormous ships flew past. The ships were much larger than even the UNSC Super Carriers and looked slightly like mechanical hands. Luckily for the SPARTAN and UNSC A.I. They went unnoticed by the ships. Who would notice the tiny half a ship when it was 93% powered down and were on a mission?

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Karen leaned back in her seat and sighed as she rubbed her temples in frustration. Reporting her findings into the council wasn't really so bad, but that damned Turian is such a smart ass. Every single thing she does, no matter how good or amazing, he finds some way to twist it around into something bad. '_Damned bastard' _she thought silently. Glad to have a few moments of silence she prepared to relax, but as luck would have it she wouldn't get it.

"Commander you might want to come up here" a male voice said over the ships communications system. Sighing once again Karen willed herself out of her seat and walked out of the communications room. Not wanting to talk to anyone she avoided eye contact with everyone as she passed the navigation controls and made her way to the front of the ship where flight controls were located.

"What it is Joker?" She asked as she walked up to the man sitting at flight controls by himself.

"Well there's a ship out nearby, half a ship anyways." Joker didn't make eye contact as he talked and continued to push buttons and read the monitors in front of him.

"What's so damned impressive about that?" Karen asked not trying to hide the anger apparent in her voice at all.

"Oh, nothing. Although it has thousands of years of decay apparent about it _and_" Joker said turning to face Karen while putting emphasis on the word and "it has power. Not much power, but it's there. Its designs don't match that of any recorded ship by any species either."

"Now that is a little interesting" Karen said as she thoughtfully tapped her chin. "Any life on board?"

"Scanners aren't showing any life, and there isn't any form of artificial atmosphere either. That's thanks to the fact that the ship looks like it was cut in half" Joker said as he motioned to a screen that showed the cut up end of the ship they were discussing.

"Think you're good enough to dock the Normandy to the gutted end of that thing?"

"Do you piss sitting down?" Joker replied sarcastically, earning a very hard smack to the back of his head.

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The Normandy's airlock door lifted giving the three access to the mysterious ship. Karen took a careful step out of the airlock and onto the ship. Behind her she could hear the Normandy announce her leaving.

"Commander Shepard is is on leave, XO Pressly has the deck."

Karen smiled to herself as she heard it '_I never get tired of hearing that_.'

"Alright now lets see." Karen studied her portable mapping device. She had the scanned layout of the ship downloaded to it and mapped the way to where the power was being used.

"So are we exploring first Commander, or heading straight there?" the male to her left asked.

"Joker said there's nothing alive on board, lets just get there and back." the female to her right voiced her own thoughts.

"Kaiden. Williams. Both of you shut up." Karen want to rub her temples to ward off the oncoming migraine and cursed her helmet.

"Yes ma'am" they replied simultaneously.

Sighing yet again Karen ignored them and began walking down the corridor they had entered. She only walked a few feet before stopping at a door and examining the panel beside it on the wall. Tapping it twice and getting no reaction she quickly became frustrated and slammed her fist down on it to no avail. "Guess there really isn't any power outside of the one room shown."

"Commander you might want to turn around." Karen turned and saw Williams pointing at the wall opposite the door she had tried to open.

"You've got to be shitting me" Karen said jaw dropped. On the wall were two arrows, one pointing left and the other right. The arrow pointing left was above with something written above it and the other arrow was below it with writing underneath it. What surprised, and possibly scared her, though was that the words were written in the English language.

"Something wrong over there Commander?" she heard Joker ask from the ships communication system.

"How old did you say this ship was Joker?"

"Hold on a second, the thorough scans are finishing up now." The comm went quiet and the three were forced to wait 18 long and agonizingly long seconds before Joker's voice was heard again. "Well if these scans are right, and trust me the Normandy's scans are always right, this ship is several hundred thousand years old."

"Would you believe me if I told you there are words written in English on the walls?" Her question was met with silence before Joker finally responded, curiosity obvious in his tone.

"What do you think that would mean?"

"Not sure" Karen replied thoughtfully "think it could be Prothean?"

"Maybe you should find out what's using power on the ship before we discuss it anymore and get our hopes up."

"Yeah, yeah I get it." Karen took one last look at the writing, specifically the arrow pointing to the right. That was in the same direction of the power drain and the word gave her an even smaller amount of hope. One small word '_Cryogenics._'

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"Are you sure it's coming from this room?" Kaiden asked Karen as they attempted to pry open the door the mapping device had led them to.

"Yes I'm sure, now stow it Lieutenant. Damn it all, get me a fucking grenade" Karen grunted in anger and took a step back from the door while reaching to the small pouch of grenades on her waist.

"This looks pretty sturdy Commander" Williams voiced as she watched Karen skeptically "you really think that will do much?"

"This ship is old and decrepit according to the Normandy" Karen finished attaching the grenade to the door and walked several yards away "so I see no reason to believe this won't work." She pressed her detonator and a noiseless explosion shook the hallway they stood in. The three of them turned to see the door still standing, albeit curved inward where the grenade had been attached. "There you see" Karen smiled triumphantly "much easier."

Kaiden and Williams pushed the now much weaker door inward all the way into the room. The doorway now cleared they entered the room and were welcomed by two softly glowing lights. The first was a soft blue hue emanating from a small console that came up from the ground. The other was a bright red hue emanating from a series of tubes against the wall. The red light was flashing, while the blue light was steady and provided a low light environment for the room.

"Williams go take a look at the blinking light, Kaiden you're with me for the blue light."

Williams walked over toward the tubes while Karen and Kaiden began inspecting the light emanating console. Carefully studying each of the four sides of the console neither of the two found a single button.

"Think it's like our computers commander? You know interactive holograms?" Kaiden asked as he stood up front looking over one side of it.

"It's possible, especially if it turns out to be Prothean" Karen responded as she stood as well and looked at the top of the console. It was a series of inward circles that became smaller as they neared the center of the console where a blue lens sat emanating the blue light. She moved a finger toward it and just like Kaiden guessed she met resistance. A holographic keyboard materialized and floated two inches above the console. It was quite obviously old and in need of maintenance as it faded in and out and was entirely unreadable.

"Good thinking, too bad it didn't help us any."

"No but this might" Kaiden grunted as he pulled at something on the console. Whatever it was he had been pulling at finally decided to come loose and he promptly fell on his rear end.

"What do you have there?" Karen raised an eyebrow as she eyed the small item in his hands.

"Looks like a small computer chip" Kaiden replied as he examined the chip in his hand. "Pretty large too, about the size of a 20th Century computer processor. Wanna take it?"

"Of course, maybe it has some worthwhile information on it, especially if it does turn out to be of Prothean origins." Karen held out her hand for the chip and Kaiden handed over. She deposited it in a small storage box at her waist. Once it was safely stored she turned toward the calling of Williams.

"Lieutenant, Commander you want to come see this, trust me."

"What is it Gunnery Chief?" Karen asked as the two officers approached the tubes along the wall where Williams was calling to them from.

"Look in there." Williams was pointing at a single tube, the only one not opened, as she spoke. The three of them took a good hard look inside the closed tube and Kaiden summarized their thoughts best.

"What the hell is that?!" Looking through the slightly frosted cover of the tube you could see what was inside. This particular tube held a large, green figure. The figure was obscured through the thick, frosted glass, but it look like a green demon with a glowing yellow eye. Their investigation was cut short as Williams pointed to the origin of the blinking, red light.

"There could be a small problem though." They looked at the control panel attached to the side of the tube. The control was repeatedly flashing two large, bold, red words. Power Low. Karen tapped the panel without a second thought and looked at the display. Glancing over the various options she touched the one that caught her eye, vitals.

"You're right, small problem." Karen said as she moved to the side and allowed the other two to look at the panel. The thing in the tube was still alive, at least according to the vital monitors built into the tube. Karen tapped a button to go back to the previous menu and touched another button. "It's using power from a battery reserve built into the tube, not the ships power."

"Think we can take it with us?" Kaiden asked, a small amount of hope now apparent in his tone.

"Joker you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Commander."

"Get two marines to bring a lift, and hurry. We have a find here and it's running out time." There was no response for several moments before Joker's voice was once again heard, him sounding a bit winded like he just yelled at somebody.

"Their in the airlock now Commander, on route to you."

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"This could be an enormous find Commander, good job." An older, well dressed man with graying hair spoke to Karen.

"Thank you Ambassador Udina, but it's mostly thanks to Joker."

"Yes, well either way this is monumental." An older, but not quite as old as the other man, black male in the dress blue of an officers uniform spoke.

"The captains right" the ambassador interrupted the captain. "I had to fight the council to get it to stay in our hands, but it will definitely be worth it. Even if it doesn't turn out to be of Prothean origins. This is the oldest living creature in Citadel Space, assuming it's alive."

"How did you convince the council to let us keep it anyhow ambassador?" The black male asked with a hint of suspicion.

"That isn't important, but they will be coming by shortly to take a firsthand look. By the way Commander Shepard, didn't you mention something about an old computer chip?" The ambassador turned to confront Karen.

"Yes sir, I dropped it off with the guys in computer engineering on my way up here."

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"Finally!" A young, blond man sat staring at a computer monitor through his glasses.

"What's up Andrew?" Another, slightly older man sat at a nearby computer.

"Took me almost four hours but I got this chip all cleaned up."

"Really?" The older man stood and walked over, his interest being piqued.

"Yeah. There was a lot of corruption and garbled coding, but I managed to fix most of it. I still had to dump a fair amount of data, but whatever was originally on it should still be there."

"Hey plug it in and lets see what's on it" the older man almost jumped with excitement as the younger man popped the chip into a slot in a small terminal box beside the computer he was working at.

"Hmmm" the young man made a thoughtful noise and tapped a few buttons on the box. "There we go." Almost immediately after he uttered those words the boxes small hologram projector turned on. "I didn't turn that on" the young man said curiously.

"Neither did I" the older man said as they looked at each other

"I would be the one who turned it on." Both men turned and saw a small holographic woman looking at them.

Seeing the small, blue woman caused both men to jump in surprise. After several seconds they both blinked and pointed at her before whispering "An A.I.!"

"Please, call me Cortana boys" The woman smiled as she crossed her arms and stared at them. "Now what have you done with my chief?"

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"Lets hope those nerds can come up with something" the captain said as he rubbed his tired eyes.

"Yeah, even if it's just in case things don't go according to plan with this thing."Ambassador Udina pointed toward the tube as he finished talking. As if they all felt their vision pulled toward the tube because of his pointing they looked. Once they looked they saw the cover of the tube was lifting as it opened.

"Guys I don't know what I just did, but I swear it was an accident!" Chief Williams stood with a shocked look her face as she pleaded with them.

"What the hell did you do marine?" the captain yelled at her.

"I'm sure it was an accident Captain Anderson, right Williams?" Karen tried to play peace keeper, if only for her sake.

"Shepard your report said you used that control panel briefly correct?"

"Yes sir."

"See if you can find out what's going on over there."

Karen ran the few steps to the tube's control panel and touched a couple of buttons. "The recovery process was initiated. Whatever is in there, we are about to meet it sir."

"Alert the council about this now!" Ambassador Udina shouted to someone in the background. Everyone in the room turned and watched as the now opened tube flashed a green light twice then made several noises.

Karen glanced back at the control panel then faced Anderson and Udina again. "It's waking up."

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Darkness. Darkness and numbness. Those were the only thoughts in John's mind as it floated in that semi-conscious state. It was almost like that feeling you got when you were starting to become aware of your surroundings, but at the same time you were still dreaming. A beeping noise. His hearing came back. Then the memories came flooding back to him. Halo, the Covenant, the Flood. The Gravemind flashed across his brain, then the death of Sergeant Avery Johnson. They blew the installation up, took the Forward Unto Dawn, and escaped through a portal. Him, Cortana, and the Arbiter. Only the Arbiter made it through the portal with the front half of the ship. '_That's right. Cortana put me to sleep, I told her. Do they need me? I thought it was finally over_'

"It's waking up." John heard a woman say. It was answered by a man, one who didn't sound happy.

"Get a medical team in here dammit!"

John opened his eyes and thought something was wrong. '_I turned it off, almost forgot._' John turned the power for his MJOLNIR suit back on. After a second or two he was met with a systems diagnostics across his heads up display. It ran finished, just as quickly as ever, and showed him the all green before clearing away and allowing him to see. Ignoring the stiffness in his arms, legs, and neck he looked down at his armored body. Seeing everything as it should be he grabbed each side of the tube with an arm.

"Sir, it's moving."

"No shit. It's getting up."

John used the sides of the tube to help pull himself out and to his feet. Once out of the confined little cryogenics tube John stood straight and allowed his aching muscles to be stretched by a small amount as he reached his full height of seven feet. John took a few moments to look around the room where he saw two men and two women standing directly in front of him.

"Good god almighty" the older, well dressed white male said in awe.

"I certainly hope he is on our side" came from the mouth of one of the two women.

"Well you're the militant one here Anderson, you talk to it Captain" the first man said to the other black male. Said black male took three steps toward john and looked up at him. John recognized the insignia for the rank of Captain on the mans dress blue uniform as the man asked him a question.

"Who are you?" Captain Anderson asked hoping the creature spoke English like they all assumed from the ship.

John snapped to attention like his military background called for and saluted. "Master Chief Petty Officer, SPARTAN 117, sir."

"Master Chief?" Anderson asked confused.

"Yes sir." Everyone in the room looked at one another at his response.

"I don't recognize the Alliance name sir, what happened to the United Nations Space Command?"

"United Nations Space Command? I've never heard of the UN having any sort of space command." Ambassador Udina shared a confused look with Captain Anderson. Before anyone could do or say anything else the door to the room opened and three figures walked in. John didn't know who, or what, they were but his brain screamed one word as he saw the aliens '_Covenant!_' Faster than anyone could move, or for that fact follow, John grabbed the pistol from Karen's waist and pointed it toward the new aliens.

"Protect the council!" one of the C-Sec officers who was escorting the councilors yelled and they all took up a defensive position, leveling their rifles and aiming at the large, green, seven foot giant before them.

"Oh for the love of god!" Karen yelled annoyed at the scene breaking out before her. "Give me that fucking gun!" She screamed as she snatched the pistol out of John's grasp.

Never having had someone attempt to take anything out of his hands John was genuinely caught off guard by Karen's actions.

"Calm down Master Chief" Captain Anderson said holding up his hands to attempt and calm John down. "Lets talk and I'll explain what's going on here."

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**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Please feel free to leave a review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from either the Halo or Mass Effect universes. Sadly I probably don't even have the claim over Karen because though I created her, she is everything Commander Shepard from the game is. As always enjoy and please feel free to leave a review.

**Canocola: **I was never going to kill the Turian Councilor, but I figured the jackass needed a good scare. He is always such an ass to Shepard, it felt good whenever I got to curse at him.

**Jaebard: **Do they really share a similar jaw? I know they look a tiny bit alike but I never noticed that. The neat thing about A.I.'s being outlawed is the fact that everyone is "Protheans this and Protheans that" and would never destroy a Prothean A.I.

**Rickrolled: **Turians and Elites look a tiny tiny bit similar, and aside from that First Contact in the Halo universe didn't go so well. John just reacted the same way anyone who fought aliens all their life would if they came out of cryo sleep and saw aliens enter the room.

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Andrew continued to watch, as he had for the past couple of minutes, as Cortana stood still. As far as he could tell she seemed to be in a trance. The reality was quite a bit further though. For the past couple of minutes what Cortana had actually been up to was testing her 'new' self. As with most 'smart' A.I.'s she had thought herself into death. Normally she would have had about seven years before that would happen but unluckily for her she burnt out after almost four years. That was in part to the large amount of data she had downloaded from both the Covenant and Forerunner technologies she had interfaced with. Now she was left without the vast majority of that data. She still had most information relevant to the Halo installations, the UNSC, the Covenant, the war, and Spartan 117. She was much faster than she had been since the first time she interfaced with the control room of the first installation and she was enjoying it quite a bit. She was currently simultaneously reading and learning everything about this Citadel, its council, its space, and all the species inhabiting it and searching for John. As she did such Cortana was completely unaware of the computer engineer watching her.

Andrew however was entirely focused on Cortana. Like most people, human or otherwise, he had never seen an A.I.. That was largely due to the fact that they had been outlawed ever since the Geth incident. Everything about A.I.'s they had been told about led everyone to fear them as destructive and chaotic. Cortana had been quite pleasurable in the short moments he had interacted with her. Andrew wasn't quite sure what to do about her. Protocol dictated that he either destroy her or alert his superior to the fact that she existed. He felt compelled to ignore that though, he had the chance to interact with an A.I., something nobody had done in centuries, not since the Geth had turned on their Quarian masters.

"Found you." Andrew looked up as he heard Cortana talk.

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"Alright Chief, lets talk this out real quick." Captain Anderson was now alone in the room with John and Karen. Ambassador Udina had left with the council hoping to smooth over what had almost happened. Not often does the council get attacked, especially on the Citadel. The fact that it was Humans was enough to upset the Turian councilor to no end. John simply nodded his head in agreement and let the captain continue.

"I want to know why you just pulled a gun on the Citadel Council. That could have pit us against every other species in Citadel Space."

"Sir, I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about here." John replied in his usual calm demeanor, but inside his head was wrapped with questions. _'Citadel Space? Every other species? Where am I and how many aliens are here?'_

"OK, lets start with the basics Chief. Where exactly are you from? While you're explaining that you can also explain something else. You said earlier SPARTAN, but I've never heard of such a rank."

"I'm not sure what Earth Colony I was from. I was taken from my home as a child, part of the SPARTAN II program."

"SPARTAN II program?" Karen interjected. First it was a rank, now it was a program.

"An attempt to make Super Soldiers." John sighed behind his helmet realizing this would take a bit more explaining than he was used to. "They took children from their homes at very early ages and took them to a military outpost, the planet Reach."

"So you were kidnapped from your parents as a child for the Military to use?" Captain Anderson found the thought sort of sickening.

"If you want to look at it like that, then yes. I was trained from the age of six to be a killing machine. They trained us till we were fourteen, then we underwent augmentation."

"Augmentation? Something from your tone tells me it's nothing like Biotics." Karen voiced from where she was now sitting in a chair, leaning back with her feet propped on someones desk.

"We weren't allowed the specifics of the process, but I am aware of the benefits that came from it."

"Just from looking at you I can guess that these specifics are probably impressive." Anderson was asking more than making a statement.

"I have bones that are almost unbreakable. My eyesight is probably better than a normal Marine with a pair of binoculars. I have a reaction time recorded in milliseconds and the strength to lift almost half a ton. Each of those are enhanced by my armor."

"How enhanced are we talking?" Karen asked from her seat.

"I could flip a tank and have reaction times almost unrecordable."

"Now that's damned impressive." Karen's eyes were wide with shock while the captain was left speechless.

"Not my usual welcome, but it's preferable. May I ask exactly where I am?"

"That's your area Captain" Karen motioned to Anderson with her hand as she spoke.

"Your on the Citadel."

"I think he gets that, I'm sure he wants to know what the fuck the Citadel is."

"I was getting to that Shepard." Anderson cleared his throat as he continued "the Citadel is an enormous station that the Protheans left behind. It was found by the Asari who set up the council with the Salarians."

"So it's a sort of Intergalactic UN?" John asked, trying to put it in terms he could grip easier.

"I think you might be trying too hard Captain" Karen gave a small laugh at the turn.

Captain Anderson continued on trying to ignore Shepard's small taunt. "Basically, yes. There are a very large number of other species in Citadel Space, and Humans happen to be the newest addition. That's why I would like to know why you pulled a gun on the councilors."

"Force of habit" John said as he shrugged his armored shoulders. "Where I'm from First Contact was horrible. Our first interaction with aliens was an unprovoked attack. It wasn't because we were a threat or in the way or even a blight. They attacked because their prophets deemed it the will of their gods. The entire Human race was almost wiped out because of that, and one of those councilors was eerily resemblant to an Elite."

"Elite?" Karen asked from her seat.

"One of the aliens that made up the Covenant. The aliens that attacked worked like a Caste system. The Prophets would be an equivalent to the Presidential level. Below them were the Elites, who took on higher military like ranks equivalent to officers. They were latter replaced by the Brutes, and the Elites left the Covenant to fight against them with the Humans toward the end. We weren't exactly sure if they held anything similar to a rank but below them would have been the Hunters. The Jackals would have been below them assuming roles similar to an NCO. The bottom was made up of Grunts, which were basically fodder for any attack they made."

"Well I can certainly see the reasoning for your reaction, but unless you're attacked first then you're the one breaking the law on the Citadel." Captain Anderson talked as Karen rubbed her temples at the amount of information.

"Yes sir." John replied as he understood the fact it was their house their rules. Before another word was said the door to the room slid open and a slim man wearing a white coat walked in.

"This is a private conversation so you better see yourself out." Anderson turned to face the newcomer and raised his voice a bit to get the point across. The man who had entered took a cautious step back and glanced between John and the Captain.

"Sorry, just returning something." The young man pulled a computer chip out of his pocket and held it out for them to see.

"Hey that's the chip I found earlier on the ship!" Karen jumped up abruptly and pointed an accusing finger at the young man.

"Yes" he stammered in surprise at her outburst. "I fixed it up and, turns out, it belongs to our friend here" he pointed toward John as he spoke.

"Well give it to him already and get out then." Karen sighed and plopped back into the chair she had been occupying.

"Yea sure" he replied and walked up to John. "I believe this is yours" the young man said as he held out the chip to John. The young man turned to make sure Karen and Anderson weren't paying attention before he whispered a few last words to John. "Tell her I said to visit sometime, don't be a stranger."

"OK" was the simple reply. With that the young man exited the room and left the three alone once more.

"So, what exactly is that thing I found?"

"Part of my armor." John quickly made up the lie. _'No point in talking about the unnecessary' _"I'll need a few moments while I install it again."

"Of course" Anderson motioned to the door "do you need us to leave?"

"No sir, I'll just need a moment is all" and with that John pushed the chip into the slot on the back of his helmet. Less than a second after he had it all the way in he felt Cortana flood into the inner crystalline layer of his MJOLNIR armor. "Welcome home."

"Chief we've done this before" Cortana paused for a second then continued "but it's good to be back."

"Where have you been?"

"Learning and looking for you, which wouldn't have been easy for anyone other than me mind you."

"How exactly did you find me?" John was slightly curious as to how she had found him so quickly.

"Well while I was reading hundreds of filed reports and came across the words giant, green, and frozen it's pretty obvious it's my favorite SPARTAN." Cortana's voice was filled with sarcasm.

"Did you find out anything useful while you were inside their systems?" John asked hopefully.

"Quite a bit I think, but I need to see something to confirm it all. They have what they call a Prothean Beacon on this station, get them to take you to it and put me inside it. Don't mention me either, A.I.'s are outlawed and I'll explain why after we see this beacon."

"OK Cortana, any other items that are need to know?"

"Nope, but I'll inform you on the fly as it were."

"Sir." John got the attention of Anderson and Karen again. "I believe you have a beacon on board this station?"

"That's right, but how do you know about it?" Captain Anderson asked both confused and surprised.

"Educated guess, but I need to go see it."

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As John followed Captain Anderson and Commander Karen Shepard he took in his surroundings curiously. Three things caught his attention over all else. First was the immense size of the space station they called The Citadel. From the short amount of time he had followed them out of the Science Research area he was thawed in to the main hub he could easily tell the Citadel was massive. Easily larger than the Covenant refitting station he had destroyed with his fellow SPARTANS. The second thing catching his attention was the many different alien species he could see walking around him. He had counted ten so far, but he was sure there were more. The third and last thing holding his attention was the amount of attention he was getting. To be more accurate it was the lack of attention he was getting. Back in his time John was used to be stared at by everyone. That included the lowest Private to the highest ranking General. Even the battle hardened and similarly feared ODST's were in awe of him. Even the Covenant had been in awe of him, though theirs was almost always out of fear and not intrigue. As John looked around the station he didn't watch where he was walking.

"Chief watch out" Cortana called out in alarm but was too late. John bumped into what felt like something resemblant to a wall. John took a step back and looked at what he had bumped into. What he saw was a rather large, reptilian creature staring back at him angrily.

"Watch where you're going" it commanded it a rough voice full of anger. John had seen the creature's head spin to face him as he had turned to face it. Obviously neither of them had been paying attention to where they were walking, yet it was going to try and play the superior. Unfortunately nothing was superior to a SPARTAN except in ranks.

"Can you hear or are you stupid?" The creature seemed to want a confrontation, and John was specifically meant to fight.

"Chief I wouldn't recommend getting into a fight" Cortana started to warn him, but she was quickly cut short by the creature. It had decided to do one thing no human had ever done to John since the incident with the ODST squad right after his augmentations. It shoved him. "Never mind Chief" Cortana sighed.

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"I'm talking to you!" Everyone in the nearby vicinity turned to watch an angry Krogan yelling at a rather large, green figure. Captain Anderson and Karen had walked a bit ahead of John without realizing it and were now rushing back toward him hoping to stop the ensuing fight. Before they got much closer than halfway the Krogan decided to give their armored friend a little shove. Nobody was surprised with the way the Krogan was acting, but they were surprised at what happened next. As soon as the Krogan's hand made contact the green figure grabbed its hand and pulled. The Krogan took a stumbling step forward as it was pulled. The Krogan's second step found it forcefully hitting a green shoulder that knocked the wind out of its lungs. All onlookers were intrigued as the Krogan dropped to one knee and John dropped it to the ground with a fist to the back.

"Way to not draw attention to yourself John." Cortana only used his name when she was really upset with him.

"I always get attention" John countered gruffly.

"Not for doing things like this."

"Chief was that necessary?" Anderson asked as he and Karen walked up.

"It" John pointed at the unmoving Krogan as he spoke "attacked first sir."

"Calm down Captain" Karen waved it off as squatted down and inspected the downed Krogan. "The Krogan started it, like they usually do. Got what it deserved if you ask me."

"OK, OK." It was Captain Anderson's turn to sigh as he began leading once more "come on lets go."

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Here it is." Anderson said as he ushered John into a small room. The room was small and only held what appeared to be a pylon just a bit larger than him.

"Alright chief" Cortana chirped inside his head "plug me in."

"I don't see any slots Cortana."

"If I'm right about everything like I think I am I should be able to beam myself to it just like the UNSC Frigate systems." John did as she ordered and pulled her out of his helmet and held the chip near the Prothean Beacon. Just like she said it probably would it allowed her to beam right into it. Captain Anderson watched curiously as John pulled out the small chip and held it beside the beacon for a moment before pulling it away.

"What was that?" Anderson asked curiously.

"Just interfacing with the beacon sir." John replied calmly. The fact that he wasn't really lying helped. John heard a short whistling tune and held the chip near the beacon once more.

"What was that noise?"

"Just a notice sir, letting me know it's done" John plugged the chip back into his helmet as he talked. "I'm going to need a few moments again."

"Of course."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" John asked hoping to finally get all the answers.

"That and so much more" Cortana's voice was full of excitement. "The UNSC is long gone John, a few hundred thousand years to be exact." John kept silent, which Cortana took as a sign to continue. "When we destroyed the last installation we actually did it. We beat the Covenant and destroyed the Flood. After that the UNSC got to study the Forerunner technology at a faster pace, what with no more war to worry about. They made leaps and bounds in just several years and soon surpassed the Covenants plasma based weaponry."

"So where are they now?" John asked curiously.

"I'm getting there" Cortana replied irritated. "Humans were soon exploring space again, further out than before with the newer technology. In the last few recorded years they found what they called Mass Relays and with them found a massive space station, the Citadel."

"So this Citadel that we are on right now is even older than Humanity was back in our time?"

"Precisely. It seems shortly after that however they were systematically hunted and killed by some sort of sentient machines. There was a filed report about a machine of similar description called a Reaper filed by a Commander Shepard, so they are likely the same machines. In any case all the technology in this era that any species is using is based off of the peak of UNSC technologies."

"So I am to them what the Forerunners were to us?" John asked for solidification.

"Yes. That also makes you what they consider a Prothean. It also brings about some good news Chief."

"That would be?"

"That with just a bit of improvising on our parts, anything on you, MJOLNIR included, can be made compatible with current technology" Cortana finished with a hint of glee in her voice. John could clearly imagine her smiling.

"Now what then?" John asked obviously not sure what to do.

"What do you mean?"

"The war is over Cortana and that's the only reason I exist, to fight."

"It's a new time Chief. I suggest you find a new war to fight."

"Excuse me" Captain Anderson interrupted. "The council wants to meet with you."

"Yes sir." John replied and saw Karen poke her head through the doorway into the room.

"Oh and do try not to kill any this time."

"You're going to explain that to me later Chief" Cortana said as he walked out of them room and was led to meet the Council again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from either the Halo or Mass Effect universes. Sadly I probably don't even have the claim over Karen because though I created her, she is everything Commander Shepard from the game is. As always enjoy and please feel free to leave a review.

**Wolfkey13: **I never get writers block!, not even with the other story (I just got bored with it and it didn't seem as fun to me or any readers as this story). I didn't stop working on it or give up on it either, I have just been dealing with depression and a hellish video game called World of Warcraft.

**MOAR: **Happy late/early birthday.

**Shotgunchief: **I hadn't made it clear yet what time frame it was from the game, but I did in this chapter.

**Tom: **I suppose it would really all be in how you look at it. Though the Forerunners might seem to have been more advanced than the reapers, I certainly never heard of them being able to retreat into dark space to get away from the Flood. It could be either way though like I said.

**Canocola:** I don't think the story would get very far if Master Chief didn't get on board the Normandy. :)

**Honorablemerc:** Thanks, it took a little while (not too long though) to make up a reasonably plausible background story to work the two universes together.

**Anime Fan Team: **It would have been nice to work the Arbiter into the story as well, but alas he actually made it back to earth and got wiped out by the Reapers along with everything else. Besides they land on EVERY planet with the Mako, which only fits 3 people, and it's going to be even more cramped than usual with the Chiefs massive bulk crammed inside. Visualize Chief and Arbiter trying to fit their bodies inside that tank next to Shepard.

**CloseStray: **The action starts very soon, next chapter, I promise. Tried working a little action into this one to keep boredom at bay.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Do you have any proof for what you claim ambassador?" The Turian Councilor was trying his best to dispute the human claims that the creature that had almost shot him was a Prothean.

"Not at this time, but we have reason to believe-"

"Reason?" the Turian sneered. "Just because you think, or have what you might call a gut feeling, that creature might be a Prothean means nothing."

Beside the Turian stood an Asari, and on the other side of her was the Salarian Councilor. Unlike him they weren't as surly, however they were just as unwilling to take anything for less than face value.

"He is right ambassador" the Asari Councilor spoke her piece. "Without any proof there is nothing that can be done."

"There is also the small matter of the incident earlier when we tried to meet with the creature" the Salarian spoke.

"Shepard is bringing him up now councilors-" Ambassador Udina was once again cut off as he tried to speak. It seemed to be the norm when the Turian Councilor was dealing with any human.

"Him ambassador?"

"Yes" Udina started to respond but noticed the arrival of Karen, Anderson, and his giant, green friend. "Here he is, I leave it to you to determine it for yourselves." Udina turned to stand several steps behind Shepard and John, beside Captain Anderson.

"Is there a particular reason you are accompanying the creature here Commander Shepard?"

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

"It just called you a creature Chief" Cortana said humorously.

"My hearing is fine."

"I just find the thought funny Chief. Maybe we should change the look of your MJOLNIR huh?"

"Don't get any funny ideas Cortana."

"Oh, their talking to you Chief" Cortana said pushing Johns attention back toward the conversation taking place about him. John hadn't heard a single word and hoped it wasn't important.

"Now then, who may we ask are you?" The Asarian councilor was speaking to him. Cortana had given him a quick rundown on who and what the Citadel Council was on the trip there. John, after a life of military service, snapped to attention and replied.

"Master Chief, SPARTAN 117."

All three councilors were slightly taken aback by Johns response. Anytime someone answered so stiffly it was for one reason, deception. There was no sense of fear or nervousness within him though, he was certainly not thinking of attempting any deception.

"Would you have a name?" The Salarian asked.

"Yes." The councilors waited several moments before realizing he wasn't going to tell them. That being so the Turian spoke up.

"Well are you going to tell us?"

"No" was the simple one word answer John gave. John thought he saw Karen smirk at the very displeased look that crossed the Turians face when he had answered.

"More important right now" the Salarian continued "is the possibility being brought up of you being Prothean."

"Do you have any proof of this claim?" The Turian was going to happily try and dispute the claims.

"Yes." John answered. The councilors were quickly learning of Johns common unwillingness to speak unless necessary.

"Would you be bale to share this proof with us?" The Asari asked, the Turian busy frowning and most likely cursing silently.

"That arises a problem."

"What problem would that be Master Chief?" The Salarian asked intrigued.

"My proof isn't legal according to the laws you have set in this time period." The councilors shared a quick look of concern before the Asari addressed John once again.

"I can assure you that any items you have in your possession will not be privy to our outlawing, should you actually be Prothean" the Asari told him as the Turian and Salarian nodded in agreement.

"Cortana?"

"Pull me Chief." John took the single large step to the console in front of him. He took notice of the large tranquility garden below him, clearly visible through what he assumed was a glass roof. He reached for the back of his helmet and ejected the chip in which Cortana resided. Each of the three councilors watched curiously as John placed the chip near the console. The next thing they saw had each of them entirely off guard as a small, holographic, blue, human woman was now standing at the consoles each of them stood before.

"Hello, I'm Cortana" she said as she gave a small wave to each of the councilors. The only immediate reaction was that of the Turians.

"Shepard you dared to bring an Artificial Intelligence to the citadel?!"

"What?" Karen blinked in surprise and looked at John then the council in confusion. "I didn't do a damned thing! I had no fucking idea he had an A.I."

"Everyone please calm down" the Asari tried to get the situation back in hand. "While it is true any A.I. is outlawed and would be destroyed, if he proves to be Prothean then we have no right to do such."

"That is exactly what I was hoping to do Ma'am. I have quite a bit of data on the Chief here since I was teamed up with him. A lot of it has to do with the technology that led to this very structure and the Relays."

"Naturally you have proof of this I assume?" the Salarian Councilor asked hopefully.

"Of course, how about I show you a little video."

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

John eased his foot onto the brake pedal and slowed the Warthog to a stop as he came around the corner of the corridor he had been driving down. He had just driven several meters below the ground and it opened into a room the size of a hangar on the Pillar of Autumn. John glanced at the marine sitting shotgun before gently pressing the accelerator down again and moving the Warthog into the room. The room was split in to by a large gap with no visible way to cross it. There were vehicle sized metal platforms and pipes placed, seemingly, randomly throughout the room. _'Great place for an ambush'_ No sooner did he think those words than Cortana spoke in his head.

"Multiple contacts Chief."

John immediately swerved right and the Warthog came to a sudden stop as it slid into one of the metal platforms, giving him and the passenger complete cover while giving the marine manning the mounted machine gun behind them cover if he ducked.

"Damn Chief, take it easy will ya!" the marine behind him yelled as he opened fire on two grunts who had strayed from their cover to take a shot at them. John pulled himself out of the driver seat and leapt to the ground over the front of the jeep. As he did so a jackal stepped out from behind a pipe and unloaded a round of needles into the passenger and driver seats killing the marine who sat passenger as he tried to get out, his body dropping dead to the ground with a thud. John pulled the assault rifle from his back and sprayed three short bursts of bullets into the creature, effectively killing it. John took a second to make sure the Jackal was dead before checking on the other marine, who was busy yelling obscenities at the Grunts he had pinned with gunfire.

"Several Covenant are hiding nearby Chief, there are unaccounted for contacts." John nodded inwardly and moved slowly around the platform he was using for cover. As he reached the edge of his cover he heard the mumbling of several grunts around the corner. He stepped around slowly to find three Grunts with their backs turned to him. Leveling the barrel of his rifle to point at them and squeezed the trigger and swept across them, puncturing the methane tanks they needed to breath.

"I think there is just a Jackal left Chief" Cortana started to talk but was cut short by a small explosion. "That was definitely a charged Plasma Pistol discharge, wanna guess what it hit?" Cortana asked the last part with a bit of humor.

John peaked around the cover of the platform and, sure enough, there was a Jackal holding an overheated Plasma Pistol. He figured he was just seconds away if he ran, it would take him slightly longer to reload his emptied rifle clip. The Jackals pistol would be ready to fire again before he could reload and then he would have to deal with the portable shield it sported. Jumping out from behind the platform John burst into a full run toward the alien. The surprised Jackal looked in time to watch John's massive, green, armored figure leap and tackle into him. As soon they landed John wrenched the shield bearing arm from the creature and bashed it's head in.

"That's all of them Chief. There was a doorway back where you parked your ride."

John nodded to himself once again and approached the door Cortana had marked on his HUD. Soon as the door opened he found himself face to face with a snarling Elite. Too close to grab his rifle John grabbed the pistol attached to his thigh and took aim, managing to get off several shots before the Elite grappled with him. They took turns throwing the other into the wall in the cramped corridor before the Elite managed to get behind him. John threw his head back, helmet colliding with head, giving him enough time to grab his pistol again. He placed the barrel to the head of the stunned alien and pulled the trigger until he was met with a satisfying splatter.

"Cutting it a little close there."

"We're alive aren't we?" John replied to Cortana as he walked up the ramp the corridor through the door had led to. Reaching the top he walked to the end where a lone console, that was eerily resemblant to those found on Citadel Station, stood next to the edge of a very long fall. After staring at it for a few moments John tapped several buttons on the console and watched as a energy bridge extended to close the large gap between each side of the massive room.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

The Council spoke quietly to each other as the recording came to an end, giving John a moment to converse with Cortana.

"Any particular reason you chose that as an example Cortana?"

"It was that or the Cartographer Room Chief. Do you want me to go into explaining the flood now? I am sort of in the middle of keeping us both in the clear."

"OK I get it" John replied as he sighed inwardly, not even attempting to defy her logic. "I do vaguely remember saying something along the lines of 'what is it?' when we found that console though."

"I did cut a bit of audio. We want them to think it was our technology not the Forerunners Chief."

"Well Cortana, Master Chief" the Asari Councilor spoke getting their attention. "Coupled with the information Cortana uploaded to our separate terminals, that short recording seems to be sufficient enough to certify your claim."

"So it is official?" Udina asked hopefully. "You are recognizing him as Prothean?"

"It would seem at this time that he is undoubtedly Prothean." The Turian Councilor said while looking displeased with the decision.

"That also leaves us with several options for you Master Chief." The Salarian took his turn to talk. "Firstly you could become an ambassador of sorts, but from the looks of things talking and diplomacy are not exactly your style." John could hear Karen quietly laughing behind him as the councilor spoke. "The second option we would like to present is for you to become a, for like of a better term, subject for scientific study and have Cortana help with furthering technological advances."

"Let's go ahead and pretend you didn't suggest that as an option" Cortana frowned at the Salarian as she immediately rejected the idea.

"Yes, yes. I assumed that would be the answer." The Salarian Councilor looked slightly saddened from the rejection and sulked just a bit.

"However" The Asarian took the opportunity to turn the mood around "the last option, and likely the most fitting, is that we make you a Spectre."

Before John could even open his mouth to ask what a Spectre was Cortana was already answering him.

"Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. Think of it as a SPARTAN without augmentation, but with the ability to do whatever they see fit. Soldiers above the law Chief." Making up his mind for him Cortana voiced her choice for the both of them.

"Spectre sounds great, I actually have something in mind. I read a report by Commander Shepard regarding a Rogue Spectre, Saren, and the Reapers."

"Aside from the fact that I would like to know where you got that information" the Turian Councilor said obviously upset "do you mean that you believe in such a ridiculous story?"

"Hey I know what I saw" Shepard interrupted "I can't help it if you're too stupid to listen to me, like usual."

"You speak out of turn Commander." The Turian was obviously ready to partake in a battle of words, thankfully Cortana stopped it.

"Regardless, Shepard's report is right. The reapers are real and they are what killed all Protheans and the flourishing race before them, the Forerunners."

"How can you possibly know for sure?" The Asari asked, a troubled look upon her face.

"The Prothean Beacon you have here on the Citadel, I interfaced with it. The Beacons are essentially messages, but they are all connected to a central archive of information somewhere."

"Is there anything you can tell us about them?"

"At this point no, only that they do exist and they are obviously not to be taken lightly."

"Until we know more about what we are up against there is not much we can do to prepare" the Salarian voiced apologetically.

"We will however make sure our forces are aware and on the lookout for these Reapers" the Turian finished up for him.

"I suppose that is all anyone can do at this point" Cortana said pensively. "The Chief and I would like to accompany Commander Shepard on the hunt for Saren. If that is OK with all parties?" After nobody voiced their opposition to the idea Karen spoke up.

"Why the hell not? The more the merrier and all that shit right?"

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

"It was certainly nice of her to offer help in getting you a weapon Chief. You still have that effect on women." Cortana was taking the agonizingly long trip to the Spectre outfitting vendor to make jokes at Johns expense.

"You know me Cortana, a real ladies man."

"It would be a bit funnier if you weren't so serious yet untruthful at the same time" Cortana teased sulkily.

Aside from the few ribs Cortana attempted the trip there was uneventful. Once there however John was intrigued. In his entire military career he had never seen such a large variety and selection of weapons, and he was counting Covenant weapons too. As he carefully inspected every weapon he looked at while reading and committing to memory its specifications, Karen waited not so patiently by the counter while watching the clerk do paperwork. Although impressed by the weapons and what they were capable of, according to Cortana, John was a bit depressed about the lack of anything resemblant to a Rocket Launcher. Eventually it looked like he was done browsing, but had yet to actually pick up so much as a pistol.

"Problem?" Karen decided to find out what was taking so long.

"Currency?" John replied with his usual simple answers.

"It's on the house, as it were." The only response from John was a brief nod, followed by him grabbing a multitude of guns from the shelves and casting a glance to Karen.

"Do you really need all those?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Without answering John looked at the many guns cradled in his arms carefully and removed two weapons, placing them back in their proper shelve spots. After setting them back down he looked to Karen once more and received another question. "You know how to use those things?" If anything would get him to talk, sarcasm about his ability to operate a gun was it.

"You point the business end" John tapped the barrel of a pistol in his hands as he spoke "and pull the trigger" he demonstrated by doing a mock trigger squeeze."

"OK OK, I get it." Karen sighed and turned to the clerk while whispering '_smart ass_'.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Nice ship" Cortana chirped over John's external armor speakers as he ducked into the Normandy from the airlock.

"The most advanced ship in Citadel Space" Karen smiled as she replied "and it is entirely under my command."

"Must be nice, I think I'll take a closer look. Chief if you would be so kind?" Cortana asserted her authority without asking. John gave his immediate area a once over before letting Cortana flash into the ships systems via a small terminal at the airlock.

"Is this ship properly armed?" John asked, uttering his first words since getting his hands on weapons.

"It's more of a sneaky ship, not a fly in guns blazing ship." Karen answered as she stepped up to a holographic display of what he assumed was Citadel Space.

"Where to first?"

"Well I got some information about the daughter of one of Saren's accomplices. Apparently she is an archaeologist and is doing some digging and research on the planet of Therum. I figure we might as well find out if she knows anything. Worse comes to worse and we can use her as blackmail." Karen explained all of the information while interacting with the map and plotting a course for the Normandy.

"Where can I find accommodations? I need to inspect my armor and familiarize my self with the new weapons."

"Take those stairs down" Karen point behind her as she talked "and go just past the mess area. Find a place to sit and go to work. If you prefer take the elevator at the bottom of the stairs to the garage. You'll have more room and a better tool selection there." John didn't answer, but simply nodded and set off to do just what he said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from either the Halo or Mass Effect universes. Sadly I probably don't even have the claim over Karen because though I created her, she is everything Commander Shepard from the game is. As always enjoy and please feel free to leave a review.

**Author's Note: **Firstly I want to thank everyone for the reviews, good and bad. They really help me keep working on this story when life has me down. I'm happy so many of you seem to like it so far, continue to let me know your opinions on it. Secondly I apologize for the massive amount of time it took for this chapter to get posted. Apparently the manager that works opposite of me doesn't want hours, so I work more than I would like sometimes. That and I can't shake this damned depression that has me by the balls. Holidays and grandparents in bad health doesn't help either. A new years resolution though is to spend more time on this story, for the pleasure of all of you. As always enjoy the read and feel compelled to leave a review.

**P.S. **If anything in this chapter seems out of place it's because I made it a little shorter than I wanted to. I just wanted to get it out so the momentum picks back up....I hope. Regardless it will all come together in the next chapter or two I promise.

**Bradley McCloud: **Thanks for the warning but I would like to hope I won't be singled out for this when TONS of other authors do the same thing. However I'll hope the nice people of Fanfiction would warn me before deciding to punish me.

**The Silent Orion: **I didn't give that much thought to be honest. However if we can all assume that ALL humans/forerunners/protheans in the universe were killed except for a few on earth, then we can assume that NO buildings survived and they devolved into cavemen. From there it is simply that they had different thoughts as they grew and advanced. :)

**Wolfkey13: **That really all depends on if Chief gets comfortable enough to take off his helmet. He did that how often between the books/games?

**Punk Rocker Fairy:** That is a little too predictable isn't it? Or is it?....

**Rogue Ordo-Fett: **I'm glad you like the strong silent type of Chief I do and I want to try to keep him like that for awhile. However a main piece of this story will be his adapting to a new universe where he is a Spec Ops guy with no rules to obey.

**grasshopper named octavias: **I really hope it does help. Will that count as community service?

**the wizard of 619: **I'm glad you approve. I wasn't sure of it until the end and I was hoping for the responses I got.

**BrazeRancor: **I had the same thought as I typed it, but I gave the elevator the benefit of the doubt. You know, for the sake of the story....

**Lunatic Pandora1: **That would involve some dismantling and reverse engineering of the MJOLNIR. John isn't going to let that happen, case and point.

* * *

John looked down disapprovingly at the multitude of weapon parts on the table before him. Cortana had explained everything to him earlier and he was at a loss. Someone, whether the late Protheans or a current Council Race, had found a way to do what the UNSC of his time had failed to do. Someone found a way to fit the power of the UNSC MAC Gun into pistols and rifles. Studying each part carefully he found himself wondering what source of power they were using to retain the force of the projectile but pack it in such a small weapon. Deciding to just have Cortana explain it to him later John went back to reassembling his weapons. As he slowly and methodically put the guns back together, piece by piece by piece, John took the time to take in every small detail of each part. 'Know your weapon.' It's one of the fundamentals taught to every Marine, and SPARTAN's were no exception. In fact John had never seen anyone take such good care of their weapon as a SPARTAN. John knew without a doubt that before the Normandy arrived at Therum he would know these guns inside and out. Several minutes later he was done assembling the last of his weapons and gave them all a once over to inspect his work. Satisfied with his work it was time to repeat the process until he could do it with his eyes closed, only then would he set to cleaning his MJOLNIR.

Karen had just spent the last thirty minutes listening to Joker and Cortana argue over calculations she couldn't even begin to comprehend concerning the Mass Relays. The ego of the best pilot in Citadel Space against the ego of an ancient Smart A.I. Whoever the winner was, Karen's sanity was sure to lose. Feeling an oncoming migraine she set off toward her room downstairs. Walking past the Mess Hall Karen noticed the Master Chief disassembling and reassembling his newly acquired weapons. 'Perfect chance for some information extraction.'

"Hey Chief, enjoying yourself?"

"Moderately" John turned his head to face her as he replied. Karen watched with intrigue as his hands continued to assemble the gun he currently held, at speeds which she knew she wouldn't be able to reach without making mistakes. The Chief however made no mistakes, and was already assembling the next gun. Once he had all his guns put together John stopped and looked at Karen, who was now sitting in the chair across the table from him. "Need something ma'am?"

"Oh, please. Don't call me ma'am or sir. You could easily rip me in half, so Shepard or Karen is fine." John said nothing but nodded in acknowledgment. Karen sighed and lowered her head for the mountain she was about to climb. It might take awhile but she swore she would get Master Chief to loosen up. Every soldier could be broken down, it was just a matter of outlasting their stubbornness to cling to the rules. The Chief was obviously a lot more set on that than most, but he had to understand that they were Spectres, and they didn't have any rules to follow.

"You do understand that you're not part of a military right now right?" Now Karen was usually a brash person who didn't think before she spoke. This time she kinda of wished she had.

"Yeah, I kind of realized that." John's voice didn't sound any different than normal, but his shoulders had drooped.

"I think I know what your problem is."

"I've been told I have a lot of problems, but go ahead."

"When is the last time you had a good fuck?" Karen asked with a grin.

"I'm sorry?" It wasn't very often that John was caught off guard by something. Back on one of his first missions to infiltrate a building to retrieve a valuable he first made contact with a Hunter, and that hadn't phased him in the slightest. Nobody had ever asked him anything close to this question, much less in such a rash and vulgar way.

"You heard me."

"I did, but I'm not quite sure I see the point."

"How long ago did you" Karen pointed at John "plow a woman?" Karen indicated her breasts as she said the last part.

"Never. I don't see how that is my problem. My sexual drive was all but killed during the augmentation process I described earlier."

Before Karen opened her mouth to respond Joker came over the Normandy's intercom system. "Commander please come up here, _please_! I can't take this stupid-" Joker's voice was cut off and Cortana's voice took it's place. "Just ignore him Shepard, everything is fine up front."

Karen sighed and rubbed her temples briefly before getting up and walking away, leaving John to finishing playing with his toys.

Disinfectant and oxygen floated out from the airlock as the doors slid open. As the cloud of disinfectant dispersed John's massive green form stepped out of the airlock followed by Karen and Ashley. John stepped over to the edge of the docking platform they were at and looked out. Aside from a few sky reaching pillars far in the distance nothing but a sea of clouds stretched out before the Spartan's vision.

"What did you say the name of this planet was?" Cortana asked over the MJOLNIR's external speakers.

"Feros." Karen said as she watched the airlock doors shut and lock behind them.

"Feros? Hmm, give me a second."

"Giver her a second for what?" Ashley asked John, he just shrugged in response. A second later Cortana's voice returned to the speakers.

"Feros, colonized in 2178 by the ExoGeni Corporation. The surface is covered with Prothean ruins which, while in good condition, are pretty unstable. The only colony is Zhu's Hope, funded by ExoGeni, which get it's water from Prothean aqueducts which get their water from the polar caps."

"Great, a real thinking, talking, showoff of an encyclopedia" Karen sighed and waved her hand around dramatically. "What else can you do?" she added sarcastically.

"I can tell you to take cover because your about to get shot at" Cortana said smugly as several bullets flew through the air past the three of them. Both women dove behind a few barrels sitting along the side of the pathway they stood on. John looked down as a bullet impacted with his shields and dissipated. "Cortana?"

"Your shields are built a bit different than the ones in this era Chief. Your's was made to stop plasma and bigger projectiles, they can withstand more than what you were used to against the Covenant."

John committed the new knowledge to memory and brought his rifle to level. His helmet, linked to his new toys, clicked and zoomed in to two times magnification. In the split second before he squeezed the rifle's trigger he took notice that the Geth were indeed very robotic. John's vision was filled with an exploding head and a shower of sparks as the attackers body crumpled to the ground with a clang. The two remaining Geth shared a brief look and began a slow walk toward their green target while firing. John took aim again quickly downed one of the remaining Geth with a short burst of fire. He turned his attention to the last but only to see it ripped in two from a short range shotgun blast.

"I love dispensing revenge!" Ashley shouted at the corpse of the Geth she just blew to pieces.

"Alright pack it up Williams, lets go."

"Those things were pretty agile for robots."

"As much as any other Human or Turian or whatever" Karen replied as the three walked down the pathway toward Zhu's Hope. They were stopped by a man who was walking toward them quickly.

"Excuse me, are you Commander Shepard?" The man was huffing, obviously out of breathe.

"Depends on whose asking."

"My name is David, I'm only here because Fai Dan wanted to speak with you."

"The leader of Zhu's Hope?" Cortana asked through John's external speakers. David looked slightly taken aback by the comment, though John wasn't sure if it was from Cortana knowing the answer or because a feminine voice came from his large frame.

"Yes he would like to talk to you" David gestured in the direction of the colony.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll see him" Karen said while walking past him. "It's where we were heading anyways."

As John followed behind Karen and Ashley, winding their way through the run down settlement, he felt a tad bit more comfortable there. It was probably due to the reactions he was getting, the uneasy cautiousness he was accustomed to. While he was amidst his own thoughts they had found their way to Fai Dan.

"You're Commander Shepard I take it?" Fai Dan asked directly.

"Yeah. The savior of all who want help for free" Karen said sarcastically. She followed up with "like I have a damned choice" under her breath.

"Yes well we could really use your help with a small Geth problem."

"As long as it's something worthwhile, like destroying Geth, thats fine. You're going to give me access to the Skyway in return though."

"Of course Commander Shepard. There is a small Geth outpost near the Skyway elevator, destroy them and the Skyway is all yours."

"Skyway?" John asked.

"Highway in the sky Chief" Cortana replied matter of factly.

"Why do I get the feeling you're making fun of me Cortana?" Her only response was a giggle. Their short little argument was broadcast over the MJOLNIR's external speakers though, leaving Fai Dan looking on confused.

"Is he, she, it talking to itself?"

"Forget it" Karen said and began walking away. "It's a long story. Lets go guys."

John and Ashley walked up the stair like ramps toward the Skyway behind a whistling Karen. John silently questioned himself about the fact that she was making such noise as they neared an enemy outpost. However Karen was obviously not concerned about it, so he dismissed it.

"Chief there-" Cortana started to say something, but John already knew the reason.

"I noticed." John tapped Karen on the shoulder to get her attention, hoping to inform her that nearby Geth were jamming his radar. Karen however simply turned to face him, winked, and resumed her whistling. Seconds later John watched as a grey blur leapt across the ceiling.

"Got you, you sneaky bastard!" Karen held an outstretched hand as the leaping Geth was suspended in the air. She turned to John and smiled "want to see something cool?" John simply shrugged in reply. Karen turned her attention back to the Geth and ripped it apart, sending pieces flying every which way.

"Impressive" Cortana said in awe. "Chief you don't think I could talk you into-"

"I think my body has been altered enough Cortana."

"OK, OK." Cortana sighed "I just figured that if it was possible-"

"Drop it" John said bluntly.

"Alright quit bitching" Karen stepped in, hoping to quiet them. "I think that Geth outpost is at the end of this corridor."

"Why do you think that Shepard?" Ashley asked.

"Oh I don't know" Karen answered and rolled her eyes. "Maybe the Geth walking around by that portable military cover." Looking down the corridor there, sure enough, was a few Geth, who luckily weren't looking their way.

"I think the best step here is to" Cortana started but was cutoff by the sound of a gunshot.

"No time" Karen said and took another shot. As soon as the first shot was fired John had leveled his rifle and fired several bursts into a Geth that was reaching for it's weapon. After the first two Geth dropped John got his first look at a fiercer type of Geth.

"Juggernaut!" Ashley yelled and pointed as it walked into view. John stared up at the hulking, eleven foot tall, red Geth. The Juggernauts red eye light affixed itself on the three of them as it fired its weapon.

"Move!" Karen shouted and shoved Ashley before leaping to the side herself. John was a little closer to the wall than them and didn't have much room to run. The rocket that was fired landed almost squarely at his feet and flung him back the way they had come, his shields flaring as he hit the ground and slid a few feet. Ashley watched John go flying and land before stumbling to her feet. Once on her feet she bent over to grab her rifle and as she grabbed it was hit by the large shoulder of the Juggernaut.

Karen shook her ringing head as she sat up from the blast of the rocket. As her disorientation began to fade she looked around for her rifle. It was found quickly, but her double vision made it take several attempts to grab it. Karen grasped the weapon and pushed herself to her feet, leaning against the wall for support. No sooner did she reach her feet then she was lifted off of them by the Juggernaut. Looking into the eye of the large Geth Karen cursed her showboating. She would normally just use her Biotics to destroy the giant pest, but ripping that hopper apart to impress John had given her one hell of a migraine.

"Wake up Chief, you've taken much worse spills than that" Cortana spoke inside John's head to rouse the Spartan.

"I'm fine" John replied checking his shields. "The gel can still take an impact I see" John commented as the Hydrostatic Gel inside his armor depressurized.

"That's great chief but the Geth is still up." John grabbed the shotgun off his back, deciding not to waste time looking for his discarded rifle, only to realize it had shattered under his bulk since he had landed on his back. Guessing his pistol wasn't going to bring the Juggernaut down John rose to his feet and ran toward it, hoping his augmented body was stronger than the Geths.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from either the Halo or Mass Effect universes. Sadly I probably don't even have the claim over Karen because though I created her, she is everything Commander Shepard from the game is.

**A/N: **First I want to apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but with Mass Effect 2 having just come out I figured a little was better than nothing until I beat it a second time. Secondly plenty of you alerted me to the fact that I said they were going to one planet but arrived at another. That's the large downside to not having a proof reader(beta reader?). At least the large majority of you knew what I meant. So in short I'm sorry, I'll try harder and the next chapter will be regular length. As always I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave a review of some sort.

**BrazeRancor: **Yeah she does! As for your talk about the shielding and weaponry....I'm not an engineer or anything of a sort close to it....so let's just pretend OK?

**DmacIntosh: **Thanks, but it doesn't really make me feel better to hear your mom broke her ankle. Unless of course she is mean or something, but thats besides the point.

**infernothechinchilla: **That is the only thing my fan fiction is missing at this point...some Chuck Norris.

**Tom: **That's what I meant more or less. My wording isn't always the best. Hard to explain some ideas ya know?

**Anime Fan Team: **I think the closest John has EVER come to anything even close to a relationship is Cortana, and if she finds a way to "put out" for him...well let me know how that goes.

**Eipok: **I doubt you'll be as surprised as you might think at the outcome of it.

**Charioteer: **You're only one of many that informed me of that, addressed it above.

**grasshopper named octavis: **It's a shame your fan fiction fell apart, without anyone pushing me I really hope this one doesn't get out from under me.

**CreepyReaper: **It saddens me to hear that! :'(

**Mechwar: **I'm trying my best I promise.

**Infamous Anh: **I like to imagine that the MJOLNIR suit has a built in shower system, but I actually had a shower planned for him soon enough. So no worries, and thanks. :)

* * *

Karen's head lolled to the side, her breath having much difficulty reaching her lungs. As the Geth Juggernaut tightened it's grip on her throat she could only think one thing, _'where the fuck is Williams?!'_ Her vision starting to blur she found herself thanking the God she didn't believe in for the sight of green crashing into the Geth, causing her to fall to the ground.

John felt immense satisfaction as his bulk slammed into the large machine. Their shields clashed and flared as "old" technology and "new" technology battled. More advanced as it might be, the Geth's shielding just didn't have as large a power source behind it as John's, and it failed as the two smashed into the wall of the hallway, creating a crater and sending the Juggernaut's gun skidding along the ground. Pulling back a fist to strike, the Geth reacted first hitting John in the side of the head with a big metal fist. Unfortunately for the Geth it would take much more than that to even faze a SPARTAN. Ignoring the blow John punched forcefully against the chest of the machine. A fist sized dent, nothing more. No time for much else he reinforced his point by punching home again, and again, and again, and again, finally smashing through the armor plating and reaching into the Geth's mechanized guts.

Karen had propped herself against the wall to sit and watch the fight. Seeing John pull various cords and other items out of the Geth made her feel safe again, for the time being. Finished with the small annoyance, John offered Karen a helping hand to her feet.

"My hero I suppose?" Karen asked once to her feet. John simply shrugged in response. "Psh, whatever. Let's just get over to the ExoGeni building and find out whats up."

John, Karen, and Ashley weren't more than a third of the way across the Skyway when they had noticed the large Geth ship attached to the ExoGeni building. There was a little _'What the hell is that for?' _and a bit of _'How the fuck should I know?'_. Cortana quickly advised they simply figure it out once inside the building and soon the Mako 35 IFV was rolling to a stop at the opposite end of the Skyway.

"50 credits says there's more Geth in the building than there was on the way here." Karen offered a bet to either of the other two.

"I'll take that bet Commander" Ashley said as she slipped out of the Mako. John exited the Mako last and spent a minute stretching his aching limbs. The Mako could hold four normal Humans, albeit not very comfortably. John was, of course, not a normal Human. He was cramped inside the vehicle and the ride wasn't exactly short.

"C'mon, the sooner we get inside the quicker you cough up those 50 credits Williams." Karen led them to the entrance which, as luck would have it, was blocked off with a energy barrier.

"We just can't catch a break can we?" Ashley complained when they discovered the barrier.

"What do you think?" Karen sighed while pointing at it.

"Any input Cortana?" John asked the expert for her opinion.

"I'll venture a pretty accurate guess that it's being powered by that Geth ship we saw attached to the outside of the building."

"Through or around then?" John queried.

"I've run several hundred calculations Chief. You're going around, start walking."

It didn't take longer than a minute of searching for the three of them to find what was assumed to be a maintenance tunnel. As soon as they entered the tunnel a gunshot sounded and John watched as a bullet was harmlessly absorbed by his shields.

"I'm sorry" an obviously scared woman stepped from behind some partial cover to talk to them. "I thought you were Geth, or those damned Varren."

"You should be more careful" Karen said with crossed arms and a ticked look on her face. "Shooting people can get you killed. Besides what good would attacking a group of Geth with a pistol do?"

"I'm not sure" the woman stammered.

"See this is why I hate civilians" Karen sighed and turned to walk a few steps away. "You're wearing an ExoGeni uniform, so tell me what the Geth would want from here."

"I don't have a single clue, I'm just an employee."

"Look, I'm here to destroy the Geth, hey took over and instead of running like everyone else obviously did you stayed behind. There's a reason you stayed behind and I would bet my Spectre status that it's the same reason the Geth are here. Now you're going to tell me before things get violent, right?" Karen gave a devious smile as she finished.

"OK. I'm not sure but it probably has something to do with the Thorian" she answered, not wanting to further upset a well armed Spectre.

"What the hell is a Thorian?" Ashley asked.

"Not a clue. Nothing about it in the data I downloaded from various places" Cortana responded. John simply shrugged his shoulders.

"It's an indigenous life form that ExoGeni was studying."

"That sure tells us a lot" Karen said sarcastically. "What else can you tell me about it?"

"Not much" the woman replied nervously. "you might be able to find out more inside, since you're going in anyways."

"Yeah, yeah" Karen sighed. "I figured as much. Just, I don't know, wait here for us. I suppose we can take you back with us once we are done here."

"Thank you so much. Be careful though, there are Varren around here somewhere" she warned. As if waiting for a cue there were barks, grunts, and whines as a pack of wild Varren came out of hiding places to attack the group. John could only entertain thoughts of where the dog like creatures had come from, seeing as how they were very high up, as the name Skyway would leave you to believe.


End file.
